We managed to squeeze another short trip before our move. We chose Bon Echo Provincial Park, another eastern destination, since after we’ll be moving farther east.
One of the main attractions of Bon Echo park is the 100m high Mazinaw Rock and the many pictographs across its base (over 260).
We will head there in the morning, but first, we set up camp, went for a swim, and spent a quiet evening by the fire.
The next morning, we inflated the kayak and paddled across the straight.
The kayak glided effortlessly along the base of the rock while we admired the many pictographs.
The site of the Mazinaw pictographs is a designated National Historic Site of Canada.
Silently, we continued along the base of the cliff heading west when disaster struck.
The solid kayak began to feel somewhat softer, and to our horror we realized that we are losing air. There is a leak somewhere and we didn’t bring a pump. Since there was nowhere to land the kayak along the base of the cliff, our only choice was to paddle as fast as we could across the straight and hope that we stay afloat.
We made it to shore.
Luckily, the inflatable kayak is made of several chambers and the bottom remained solid. We found the small cut that caused this fiasco and since we couldn’t find our patch kit (another fail), we patched it up with a makeshift tape.
Now what? We needed to get to other side of the straight again since the Cliff Top Hike was only accessible by boat. During non-Covid times there is a small ferry that takes hikers across, but not these days. We decided to brave it and paddle back across the straight.
Yes, this time we made sure to take the air pump with us…
There is a small, busy landing at the trailhead
and you can only go up from there.
This is what the old stairs were like
much easier to climb these ones.
The trail takes you through a series of spectacular lookouts
that got progressively better
and more impressive as we climbed.
It wasn’t a great day for photography,
but nonetheless, it was spectacular.
We were glad that we decided to take the chance of sinking…
The descent was just as spectacular.
Sadly, the kayak deflated again. The tape wasn’t doing much. We pumped it up and made our way back with only one stop to admire the Walt Whitman Carving.
Walt Whitman never visited Bon Echo, but Flora Dennison, a previous owner of the property, admired Whitman’s work so much that she commissioned a piece of his poetry to be chiseled into the face of the rock. You can see here a picture of the rock and carving taken in 1919.
Most importantly, we made it back without sinking and went for a swim with some cute dogs.
The next day, we stayed off the water and explored some of the park’s short trails.
one of the trails took us by the location of the Bon Echo inn.
The property, originally purchased by Weston A. Price and his wife in 1889, was named Bon Echo because of the echo that bounced across Mazinaw Lake. The Prices built a large hotel at the narrows, the Bon Echo Inn.
Fire struck the inn in 1936, and it was never rebuilt.
We spent another pleasant night by the fire, and just like that it was time to go home home.
We stopped in one of the picnic areas to have a late breakfast and then headed home.
Now back to packing.
I was going to say…inflatable kayak, what a great idea, but obviously, there are pitfalls with inflatables. Glad you made it back and forth safely. Bon Echo looks spectacular, great trails and views, not to mention the pictographs. Happy Sunday and thanks for sharing. Allan
It is a great idea and we had quite a few good outings with this kayak. We bought it because we couldn’t take our canoe in the campervan. We don’t know where this cut came from, but obviously we are now a bit less enthusiastic about it…thanks for reading and commenting and a happy Sunday to you too!
Now that was an adventure. No inflatable kayaks for me. I can’t swim. Looks like a spectacular place to visit. Hope you are settling into your new place nicely.
Adventure indeed! We are settling in nicely and as soon as we can we will explore the local shops for a couple of small kayaks that will fit in or on the van…
That was a great read. Not only did I enjoy each of the photos that went along with the story, I recalled similar adventures with leaky crafts.
Thanks, Pete! Leaky crafts are not fun…I hope your adventure wasn’t too stressful!
Very unique pictographs! I’ve recently been into discovering historic carved art (e.g. pictographs, petroglyphs) while on my travels, especially on nature hikes. Bon Echo Provincial Park looks to be an accessible and enriching place to appreciate nature, all the while uncover a bit of the area’s history! Hope the move went smoothly!
Thanks, Rebecca! I could not believe the amount and richness of petroglyphs and pictographs and geoglyphs in the US. There are some incredible sites and many are fairly accessible. The move went well, thank you!
Love the photos and glad to see you are still travelling and enjoying yourselves. Stay well!
Thanks for coming along on our little adventure! Take care!
It’s a lovely park. The history you find everywhere you go always amazes me. But there always has to be something…..😂
You are right, there is always a little piece of history attached to every place 🙂
Looks amazing and what an adventure! 🥴 Happy moving!
Haha, it was! Thanks for joining us. The move is finally all done and we are nicely settled in out little new home 🙂
Thanks for risking your life to bring back pictures of these pictographs. Gradually the more complex past of Canada emerges with all these discoveries that we can visit.
So glad that you appreciate the risk that we took :). You are so right, and especially now that the northern ice cap is shrinking and uncovering so much that was frozen underneath for so many years. Interesting times for archaeologists!
Even without going that far, it sometimes seems as if the history of Canada is summed up in Simcoe, 1812 and John Macdonald. It’s just a bit older and more complex.
I know what you mean! This is the Ontario/Toronto-centric history that is repeated over and over again. There is most certainly more than that!
Bon Echo is one of my favourite parks. We’ve done the Cliff Top Trail a number of years ago and all I remember were those steps. So many steps climbing up (and then back down). And it was a hot day. Glad to hear that your inflatable kayak somewhat held up and didn’t fully deflate. That must have been scary at the time, and funny after the fact. Are you fully moved into your new place yet?
Bon Echo is by your cabin, right? It is certainly one one the nicest parks in Ontario! It was a bit scary, but apparently not enough since we made the second trip 🙂 We are fully moved in and fixing up stuff now! Luckily we have a tiny garden compared to the farm so not too much garden work and we can concentrate on the inside (and on planning future trips)
Bon Echo is super close to our cabin. The lake that we’re on eventually connects with Mazinaw Lake. Glad to hear that you’re fully moved in now and don’t have nearly as much yard work as before. Best of luck planning your future trips. I look forward to reading all about them 🙂
The serenity of nature!
Indeed!
We’ve had some plans to go to Bon Echo this summer, but we had to push them for the next one. Now, I can’t wait to have my own adventures there, looking for the pictographs. But I will remember to avoid inflatable things🙂
Glad you made it back safe!!
You will love it!
Wow! So beautiful ❤️ well shared
crocmall – https://www.crocmall.com
Thank you!
Yes Bon Echo in one of my favorites. Took the kids when they were young there for several years !
That’s a wonderful place for kids to spend time camping!
Great story. Glad it all worked out well with the kayak. But what a view. Definitely worth it.
It was so worth it! Thanks for coming along!
What great cliffs! And the pictographs are awesome! Good for you for continuing despite a leaky kayak, I’m not sure I would have trusted the tape 🙂 Maggie
Haha, looking back I am not sure it was a wise decision, but then again, ya gotta take a chance some time 🙂
Wow! What a gorgeous country we live in! Your photos are lovely. I’ve never been there so found them interesting as well as beautiful. Thanks so much, Fondly, Muriel
We do indeed! Thanks for coming along with us!
What brand is your kayak? What brand tape didn’t last well? I have an inflatable; the repair kit lives in the vehicle, and if I’m going far, gorilla tape lives in the boat, as well as the pump. But hey, that’s what PFDs are for! Glad the water was warm enough for swimming; it may not be now!
It’s a Challenger K2 and we were pretty happy with it overall. We used a 3M Strong Hold tape. Yeah, not sure why we neglected taking the tape and pump with us the one time that we needed it…Murphy’s Law? 🙂
Bummer about the kayak!!! Which model do y’all have? This area looks like a fun place to explore!
It’s a Challenger K2, which is pretty sturdy. We don’t know how the cut came to be since it was on the top part of the kayak. I think it was compromised in storage by “someone” who wasn’t too careful and shoved something sharp into it…Bon Echo is a really nice place to explore!
What a peaceful looking campsite! I can’t imagine discovering an air leak in the kayak, that must have been a bit on the scary side. I’m glad you were able to make it to the hike, the view are spectacular. But I have to say, your post makes me very glad for our hard sided kayaks.
Haha, I know! I think we will fix it and still use it, but only for places where it will be safe to do so just in case of another oops. We are looking for small hard sided kayaks that will somehow fit in the van.
What a spectacular adventure! Glad you made it back safely. My stomach turned when I read the kayak was losing air. I can’t swim and my first thought was, “I hope they had life jackets!” Your photos are beautiful. Such a scenic spot. Thank you for sharing!
Glad to see you were able to find workarounds for the kayak leak – how scary! It’s always a special treasure to see petroglyphs, looks like it was so worth the trip. Thanks for sharing this one.
Yeah, it was a bit unnerving! Petroglyphs are so special to me…they are like emojis from the past 🙂
I prefer to think of them as artwork… perhaps a generational difference?! 😊
I don’t think you are that much younger than me 🙂 It’s the archaeologist in me that sees the functional communicational value of these treasures. No doubt the some petroglyphs have artistic expressions though!
I think I’m older than you… not as much as an emoji user!! I agree, and I guess I see them mostly as a kind of story-telling about their world.
Let’s settle for the same age then!
Glad you didn’t sink!
Haha, so are we!
What an adventure ! We have inflatables and never used them in Yellowstone because Lewis Lake was always in some wind status and with water 40 degrees we heeded the warnings of our rangers. I have this park on our bucket list when we make it back East ! Thank you for sharing.
I still like inflatables, but will use with caution. I hope you make it there, it’s a beautiful park!